Ground cover

[CrealCritter]

Weeds in the garden this year is awful. I'm looking at sowing ground cover this fall over the winter to hopefully choke out some of the weeds in spring. I'm in zone 6B what would you suggest? Of course anything that would bring the deer in would be a protein plus

 

[BarredBuff]

Weeds in the garden this year is awful. I'm looking at sowing ground cover this fall over the winter to hopefully choke out some of the weeds in spring. I'm in zone 6B what would you suggest? Of course anything that would bring the deer in would be a protein plus

I have used winter wheat in the past, and it had an impact the following year.

 

[Chic Rustler]

Winter rye. Legume blends. Clover.

Check out I am organic gardening on YouTube. He does alot with cover crops

 

[Chic Rustler]

But in my opinion, the best thing to do is mulch it with 4 inches of grass clipping or hay right now.

 

[baymule]

I would mix it up with clovers, winter wheat, and rye grass.

 

[Britesea]

Fava beans bring in more nitrogen as a cover crop than any other, I've heard. And you can eat the beans as well!

 

[CrealCritter]

I think I need something that survives winter for USDA zone 6B. Nitrogen fixation would be awesome since my soil is low on nitrogen to begin with.

 

[CrealCritter]

But in my opinion, the best thing to do is mulch it with 4 inches of grass clipping or hay right now.

I've mulched with hay several years in a row. I think it made matters worse with hay having seed heads when it's mowed and baled. Straw would probably be better but it's expensive and hard to come by around my neck of the woods. Not much grain is grown here in southern IL so straw is expensive.

Even if I were to put straw down it would be tilled in come spring time anyways. Since I still practice the old school method of gardening (till) vers the new school (no-till).

 

[CrealCritter]

Fava beans bring in more nitrogen as a cover crop than any other, I've heard. And you can eat the beans as well!

Thanks @Britesea
According to this article it looks like I'm borderline with fall planting of fava beans being in zone 6b : -5 to 0 (F). So I may just give them a try... I need enough to sow a 60x100.
https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-grow-fava-beans-1403460

 

[Beekissed]

White dutch clover. Love it, used it for years for that purpose, the chickens love it, deer love it, the bees love it, it's a nitrogen fixer, it cools the ground, germinates like crazy even in cool weather, lasts all winter long even under the snow, easily plowed in, doesn't grow too high if you want to leave it for pathways.

Here's a site I find invaluable that you may want to bookmark...it's incredible the amount of information compiled here on various feed grains, grasses and legumes.

https://www.feedipedia.org/node/245